Repositioning a company to communicate unique
market strengths.
The strengths of a company are in the unique services or products it provides and its position in the markets it serves. The extent to which the organization's core strengths and key differentiating characteristics are truly reflected in the organization's image is a vital strategic issue.
A company's identity and presentation may say more about where it came from than where it's going. The forward momentum of the organization is held back, confused by an image that's out of sync with its customer base, its market and its strategic plans.
RadiantBrands (previously RadiantBrands) was brought into just such a picture by a company which had clearly outgrown its corporate clothing as it moved ahead. From 20-year-old beginnings as a customized software application provider implementing company-wide human resources and finance applications, The Application Group had expanded beyond its original mission.
Changing Company Perceptions
In 1997, The Application Group conducted a six-month brand study focused on customers' perceptions of the company and its competition. While customers had a strong awareness of The Application Group's past leadership role as an HR and finance systems implementation company, there was very little perception of their expanding role as management consultants to clients at a strategic organizational level. The study also highlighted the company's "can-do" customer-centered philosophy and friendly culture - a major advantage in this market - and clarified the tremendous equity of The Application Group's frequently-used nickname, "AG."
Brand Study Points the Way
The Application Group asked RadiantBrands to consider these brand study results to implement a dramatic redefinition of the company's visual image as part of a name change. The new name and competency statement for the company - AGConsulting, "Consultants in IT to Human Resources and Finance" - retained enduring competitive advantages and amplified the new strengths the company was developing.
Designing for a New Image
RadiantBrands worked closely with AGConsulting to create the identity, providing a range of design solutions that were evaluated by the company team. The chosen logotype and associated identity system reflect the friendly professional consulting focus of the company, showing the name in a humanistic Roman typeface and building on the equity of the "AG" name by accenting it with a strong blue color. The competency statement is always featured as a tagline to the logotype.
Guidelines Focus the Company's Look
RadiantBrands developed an identity guideline manual which specifies color usage, type treatment and applications to internal and external communications. The guidelines for the use of imagery in advertising, trade-show booth design and Web site creation are faithful to the spirit of the corporate identity and the goals developed from the branding study. The light, open feel of the communications format allows the logotype to stand out and underlines the company's friendly, down-to-earth open style and focus on strategic processes rather than technology.
The final result of the AGConsulting identity program is an effective repositioning of the company in its key markets through a brand identity that consistently demonstrates - in words, visual imagery and color - the company's strengths and the benefits it brings to its customers.
— Steven Donaldson, President, RadiantBrands
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